Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 22

22. Ability User Test (5)

First place, huh.

Hyun-woo wasn’t particularly thrilled, considering it a natural outcome.

His opponents were scarecrows, and severely degraded versions at that, so his speed was bound to be faster.

‘No, should I say outdated rather than degraded?’

If he had faced slimes or goblins for the first time, he might have been slower. Hyun-woo aimed Dismantle at the scarecrow’s chest.

As the white skin peeled away, the internal frame was revealed. He had already taken the metal plate, but Hyun-woo had other business. He peeled off the scarecrow’s skin and lifted it.

[Flesh of the Spore Infiltrator (Common)]

‘So, it can be possessed as an item.’

Despite the gruesome name, Hyun-woo liked this material. When facing scarecrows in Hell, he had thought their unusually strong defense was simply due to special treatment, like a sandbag.

But seeing this, he realized the skin contained a special power. Hyun-woo attached the peeled skin to his arms and shins.

The flesh of the Spore Infiltrator seemed to have good restorative properties, naturally wrapping around his body as he connected the ends.

‘I hope this doesn’t control my body or anything?’

Hyun-woo indulged in unnecessary fantasies, and instead of wearing the sleeves as they were, he used his Craft skill. The sleeves were cleanly torn apart, then intricately woven back together, creating something quite plausible this time.

[Spore Infiltrator’s Greaves (Common)]

[Spore Infiltrator’s Vambraces (Common)]

“…These will do.”

Hyun-woo had already seen other novice examinees failing to make significant progress against the scarecrows with their skills. This was due to the strong mana repulsion. Seeing this, Hyun-woo thought it would be useful as armor. No matter how much he trained, it wasn’t as if he could withstand skills without any effect.

Avoiding hits was best, but if he did get hit, he needed to preserve his combat ability. Therefore, the flesh of the Spore Infiltrator felt quite useful to Hyun-woo.

“Alright. Preparation complete.”

Hyun-woo turned his head towards the inside of the dungeon.

“Shall we begin the hunt?”

***

Red Butterfly looked up at the ceiling with an anxious expression.

Two hours into the exam. The red scoreboard etched into the ceiling was large and clear enough to be seen from anywhere in the dungeon. It felt like a painful whip lashing at the examinees. Some had already given up after seeing the scores.

「1st place. Kang Hyun-woo. 67」

How is that even possible? Red Butterfly, in second place, had barely managed to surpass 51 after desperately trying.

Originally, that scoreboard wasn’t there. But as Kang Hyun-woo began to widen the score gap, the organizers put up the scores as if to say, ‘Look and learn.’ Naturally, Red Butterfly, who aimed for first place, couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

Examinees appeared before Red Butterfly, who was biting her lip. About eleven of them. The examinees were banding together more and more to keep Red Butterfly and Kang Hyun-woo in check.

As if they had been preparing, the examinees weren’t flustered even when they saw Red Butterfly. They quickly took their positions and began casting skills.

Intense light instantly poured down on Red Butterfly. It was hot and intense enough to blind her for a short time, but Red Butterfly was already gone.

“Watch out!”

Amidst the examinees’ urgent cries, Red Butterfly kicked off the wall and ran. Red trails stretched out behind her two hands, which were smashing through the walls like tofu.

Fire arrows and paralysis curses that bound her legs covered her body, but Red Butterfly fearlessly jumped into their midst.

A man who seemed to be a tank blocked her path in the middle of the trajectory, where red arrows were pouring down.

Bang! A loud noise echoed. The formless barrier created by the tank was shattered by Red Butterfly’s red hand.

However, Red Butterfly was now isolated in their midst. The examinees quickly finished preparing to unleash their skills.

“Sister!”

At the same time as the shout, another examinee crashed into the party formation. A giant woman, nearly 190cm tall [approximately 6’3″], instantly sent two examinees flying. The formation quickly collapsed into chaos. Soon, two more appeared before them.

A man wearing glasses and a female student who looked to be in middle school. The examinees lost their will upon seeing the red butterfly badges on the newcomers’ collars.

“Red Butterfly Squad…”

They doubted they could even beat Red Butterfly alone, let alone if they were all together. While the man with glasses picked up the metal plates that the examinees dropped, Red Butterfly tried to move ahead alone again. The giant woman blocked her.

“Sister. You’re rushing too much. What if you get hurt?”

“…The score is too low.”

“No, our goal is just to get into Taesung and join the Northern Expedition plan anyway. It’s not like they only let the first place person join. Besides, we’ve already collected a lot of metal plates, you know? So, if we add what we’ve collected this time… Janmang! How many do they have?”

“Sixteen.”

“Then, combined with your and our plates, that’s 88. Wow. Then we’re already in first place, right? At this point, anyone would be begging us to join. It’s already more than we aimed for when we joined and set our goal.”

“That’s all combined.”

“We decided to give it all to you, so it’s the same thing. That Kang Hyun-woo guy is probably the same, right? Maybe he’s being sponsored by a huge group. How else could he collect so many on his own? I’ve never even heard of him before.”

Red Butterfly didn’t answer. She just quietly stared at the giant woman.

“Ah, Sister. Don’t be like that.”

“Follow slowly. With Haru and Janmang.”

Red Butterfly left her companions behind and leaped over the wall. Her two hands dug into the wall, and she quickly climbed upwards. Hongryeon couldn’t follow. She heard voices calling her from behind, but she ignored them and quickly ran forward.

***

“The level of the examinees is higher than I thought.”

Taemin-soo muttered as if groaning. He had expected that there would be high-level examinees besides Red Butterfly since this exam was being conducted in a slightly special way. But he hadn’t anticipated this level of anomaly.

Lee Ji-tae felt the same way. He looked at the screen with an interested expression and said to Taemin-soo.

“Kang Hyun-woo, who is that friend?”

Taemin-soo wore a troubled expression. He didn’t seem to know either. If even he, who knew all the domestic ability users, didn’t know, then others wouldn’t either. The headhunters in the audience were busily trying to find out his name.

“I believe he’s a friend who received ability user judgment for the first time this time. The one whose ability stats and skill judgment were put on hold earlier…”

“Ah, the one with the poison blood skill?”

Lee Ji-tae chuckled. Lee Ji-tae’s interest was now focused on this comet-like newcomer.

It’s better to fight scarecrows with strong mana repulsion using physical force rather than skills. But Kang Hyun-woo was easily defeating and dismantling them, even though their defense itself wasn’t weak. Moreover, he was nonchalantly disassembling them and even using them as armor.

“It seems like he has dungeon experience?”

“That’s the only way to explain that ability. But he hadn’t even received ability user judgment, so how…? Could he be a rogue [unlicensed dungeon explorer]?”

People who entered dungeons without permission were called rogues. They were usually ability users who had their licenses revoked for causing accidents or criminals hiding in dungeons, so people avoided them.

“That could be the case. Or maybe he came from a foreign country where regulations aren’t strict.”

Lee Ji-tae leaned forward, watching Kang Hyun-woo with great interest. Displaying the scores on the scoreboard on the ceiling was his request. He hoped it would be a stimulant for Red Butterfly.

As expected, Red Butterfly looked anxious and moved busily. She was clearly looking for Kang Hyun-woo.

He agreed that it was like an adult pitting children against each other, but Lee Ji-tae was curious.

And as someone who had once been on a fast growth trajectory, he knew how desperate one could be for competition with a strong rival.

These two must meet.

‘Kang Hyun-woo, you must be thinking about fighting Red Butterfly right now, aren’t you?’

***

‘Come to think of it, what does this flesh of the Spore Infiltrator taste like? Mushroom?’

Hyun-woo tore off a piece of the Spore Infiltrator’s vambrace and put it in his mouth. It could be a poisonous mushroom, but Hyun-woo, who already had a strong resistance to poison in his body, wasn’t worried at all.

It just tasted bland, and the texture wasn’t great. But if he was really hungry in Hell, he might be able to eat it.

‘If I’m hungry, that is.’

Hyun-woo spat out the flesh of the Spore Infiltrator and raised his head. He sensed an approaching presence in the distance. The opponent was running quickly along the wall, not caring who saw them. Almost at point-blank range.

Hyun-woo quickly jumped to the side. In an instant, a red trail like an arrow covered the spot. He saw a woman with red hair looking at him with a surprised expression. Hyun-woo intuitively realized that she was Red Butterfly, the one in second place.

“I thought it was her real name, but I thought it was strange.”

Hyun-woo smiled, having figured out the reason for her nickname. Red Butterfly stared at Hyun-woo silently before opening her mouth.

“Are you alone?”

“I have 150 subordinates ambushing this area. Why?”

“So you’re alone.”

Red Butterfly lowered her body and took a stance. Her eyes burned with a strong desire to win.

[Due to the effect of the ‘Hell’s Strongest’ title, stats are increased relative to level.]

[Human (LV 14)]

‘Oh, look at this.’

Hyun-woo immediately went on alert. An opponent with twice his level.

His survival instincts, honed in Hell, lightly ignored the other party’s appearance. Red Butterfly’s heart began to beat faster as she saw Hyun-woo’s changed attitude.

“Please, give me a lesson.”

After whispering that, Red Butterfly immediately charged. The hand that flew in, drawing a red trajectory, instantly dug towards Hyun-woo’s torso. Hyun-woo raised his arm to block, but quickly changed his mind and deflected it to the side.

The vambrace he was wearing on his arm was instantly torn by the fingertip of Red Butterfly, which grazed past him. If he had blocked it, his arm would have been pierced.

“Ha.”

She was going to stick this in my stomach? Hyun-woo laughed as if he was dumbfounded.

But Red Butterfly’s expression didn’t change. She seemed to have expected him to block it.

They both sensed it. Regardless of the time, the one who wins this exam is the one who wins this fight.

***

“Huh, what the hell…”

The moment Red Butterfly and Kang Hyun-woo clashed, everyone in the audience focused their attention on them. All the screens were showing only the two of them, as if they didn’t care about the 160 examinees still remaining in the arena.

“Are they completely crazy?”

“Have you still not figured out where they’re from?”

The headhunters talked in disbelief. The fight between Red Butterfly and Kang Hyun-woo was no longer at the level of examinees, but at the level of semi-pros, or even active hunters.

Red Butterfly had really come from running dungeons, but no one knew where Kang Hyun-woo had fallen from.

They only had one thought in mind.

“Where did that monster come from?”